The opening of the Ruins of St Paul’s, “Visiting the Ruins of St Paul’s through Space and Time” Virtual Reality (VR) exhibition hall and Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt were temporarily suspended yesterday due to the inclement weather, and Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Leong Wai Man told the media that during heavy rainfall in the afternoon IC staff at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed site found a small stone in front of the Ruins of St Paul’s, underlining that no one was injured in the incident.
Concerning a photo circulating online that the small stone came from a gap at the top of the Ruins of St. Paul’s façade, Leong said that after using a drone to take photos of the top of the façade to compare the current with previous conditions, it was confirmed that the stone did not fall from the gap at the top, adding that the gap had been there before the incident.
Leong did not elaborate on the exact size of the stone, pointing out that the bureau was still investigating the cause of the apparent fall of the stone from the façade. She spoke to the media about the incident on the sidelines of yesterday’s Legislative Assembly (AL) oral interpellation meeting, adding that her bureau had not right away been able to determine whether the incident was caused by a lightning strike.
For public safety reasons in the wake of the incident and power failure at the site, the bureau yesterday afternoon temporarily closed public access to the Ruins of St Paul’s, VR exhibition hall and the museum behind the façade, according to Leong.
Ruins of St. Paul’s reopens today
Meanwhile, the bureau said in a statement late last night it “initially believes” that the stone fell from the façade of the Ruins of St. Paul’s, underlining that the Cultural Affairs Bureau always conducts continuous instrumental monitoring of the structure of the Ruins of St Paul’s and implements regular maintenance and repair work. According to the statement, the state of conservation of the site has ensured a “safe and favourable” condition.
The bureau promised to conduct another comprehensive structural safety inspection and maintenance of the Ruins of St Paul’s in due course, as well as to study preventive measures against inclement weather conditions to ensure that it is well protected.
The statement noted that following the completion of yesterday’s safety inspection of the façade of the Ruins of St Paul’s and the resumption of the electrical system of the site, it re-opens to the public today.
The Catholic Church of St. Paul, aka as Mater Dei (“Mother of God”), was built in 1637-40. In 2005 it was listed by Paris-based UNESCO as a World Heritage site. It has become one of Macau’s biggest tourist attractions, mainly for selfies.
Meanwhile, during a rainstorm at about 2 p.m. yesterday, a traffic light malfunction occurred at the junction of Avenida da Praia Grande and Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro.
Tourists pose for selfies in front of the Ruins of St Paul’s after yesterday’s rainstorm and lightning stopped at about 3 p.m. The arrow points at a gap on the top of the façade that some netizens claimed was where a stone had fallen from yesterday. However, the Macau Cultural Affairs Bureau said in a statement that this was not the case as the gap had been there before yesterday’s incident. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
